This study aimed to develop and evaluate a new class to support the construction of arguments and encourage students to make judgments about masticatory behavior based on scientific evidence while supporting the teaching method proposed by Matsuyama and Yamamoto (2023c) in the fourth grade elementary school class, “Structure and Movement of Human Body.” We developed a system called “Argu-made” to support the following three guiding principles: (1) to support the construction of arguments by facilitating the use of what has been learned from discussions in learning activities, (2) to encourage the examination of reasoning by facilitating opinion exchanges, and (3) to encourage the comparison of evidence by facilitating the sharing of experimental results. The worksheet evaluation results showed that in the description of arguments, the students were generally able to judge masticatory behavior using their knowledge as a scientific basis. The transfer test revealed that the students were able to apply scientific evidence to consider the importance of masticatory behavior and how to make it a habit. “Argu-made” helped construct arguments of claim, evidence, and reasoning, promoting scientific understanding and judgment regarding the students’ masticatory behavior.
This study focuses on the process of two young researchers who are mainly engaged in science educational research using quantitative research methods, learning unfamiliar qualitative research methods, and aims to clarify the changes that occur in the process and some of the mechanisms by which these changes occur. For this purpose, we analyzed the utterances of young researchers’ reflections at a seminar on qualitative research methods. In addition, we conducted interviews and asked for additional information about the intention of the utterances.
As a result, three findings were derived. First, confronting research from a different epistemological standpoint while maintaining an attitude of “concern for the concerns of others” is possible to avoid creating a structure of mutual indifference and conflict and to open up the possibility of diversity in science educational research. Second, learning about different research methodologies not only provides an understanding of the research methods but also allows us to reflect on the boundaries of the research methodologies that are familiar to us. Third, the influence of personal experience is essential in choosing what to accept, adapt, or reject from different epistemological positions, and the decision is a complex, emotionally sensitive process.
What trajectory does a science education researcher follow on the path to becoming established? Understanding the trajectories experienced by science education researchers is crucial for the process of developing a researcher identity. This study utilizes the Trajectory Equifinality Approach to delineate the trajectory of the researcher identity of a single science education researcher in Japan. Our findings reveal a dual pathway to rediscovering one’s expertise; the journey involves germination, exploration, and establishment of expertise, alongside the cultivation of expertise through engagement with science teachers. Furthermore, the formation of a researcher identity along this dual pathway is shaped by factors such as involvement in the science teacher community, interactions with close colleagues (supervisors and junior researchers), engagement with researchers of different epistemologies and methodologies, participation in writing activities, and maintaining a stable position in the university.
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the phenomenon of making use of learners’ reflections in an arithmetic class. Specifically, we hypothesized that when the teacher intentionally intervenes in learners’ reflections, reflection becomes an object of learners’ thinking and learning progress. In the discussion, using a unit on “angles” in the fourth grade of elementary school as a case study, we examined the teacher’s intervention using learners’ reflections from the perspective of “the expansion of the milieu that is the learning environment and the transformation of learners’ perceptions” in the theory of didactical situations.
As a result, it was found that the teacher’s intervention by taking up learners’ reflections in class makes the reflections themselves a part of the learning environment. It was also found to be an effective approach to increase learners’ ideas, and to encourage them to try to explain their methods with their own ideas. In other words, it is effective to incorporate reflection in the classroom in the sense that the teacher’s intervention to use reflection can make use of reflection, expand the learning environment, and bring about a change in the learner’s perception.
Recently, “productive failure,” as an educational approach, has garnered increasing attention in the field of learning science. Studies have demonstrated that productive failure can more effectively foster conceptual knowledge and facilitate knowledge transfer than traditional instructional methods. However, insufficient research has been conducted on the relationship between the effectiveness of productive failure instruction, student engagement, and learner characteristics. This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between the effectiveness of instruction via productive failure, student engagement and attitudes towards mathematics, and students’ beliefs about failure. To fulfill the study objective, we implemented productive failure instruction for 147 first-year high school students. We investigated the impact of attitudes towards mathematics and beliefs about failure on learning outcomes and engagement. The findings reveal a significant positive correlation between confidence in mathematics and the learning effects of productive failure. Furthermore, a significant positive correlation was observed between attitudes towards mathematics, possibility of utilization failure, and engagement in productive failure. The results are discussed considering this study’s limitations and future research directions.
In the fifth-grade science unit “Motion of pendulum”, the unconscious introduction of statistical contents occurs as experimental data processing is necessary to discover the regularity of the pendulum’s motion. Previous studies emphasize, naturally, understanding the pendulum’s motion regularity, not teaching the potential statistical contents. Articulating the actual practices and challenges in teaching statistics in that unit is useful for improving the teaching of the pendulum motion and is also crucial for considering cross-curricular statistics education and the systematic teaching of statistical knowledge in school science. This paper examines the descriptions in six approved textbooks, focusing on two types of errors (in a measurement and a statistic) and their treatment. Analysis shows, for example, measurement errors being disregarded as external factors, conflicts over precise measurement, the meaning of average seen as “fair share”, and errors in statistics evaluated visually. These characteristics may lead to the challenge of “begging the question”. Finally, based on the actual practices and challenges, suggestions are given for improving the teaching of the unit and for considering cross-curricular statistics education.
The purpose of this study is to capture in detail the aspects seen in the learning of fractions in the second grade, and to illustrate, through case studies, the characteristics of children’s recognition of the “original size” and the transformation process of that recognition. For this purpose, we planned and implemented classroom practices for the fraction unit in the second grade, and based on the children’s aspects observed there, we conducted analysis and discussion. The analysis focused on the characteristics of children’s recognition of the “original size” pointed out three things: 1) Shapes like T-shapes are difficult to recognize as the “original size”, as they are not treated as the “original size” in arithmetic textbooks, 2) Visual coherence and an orderly arrangement are recognized as the “original size,” and 3) Dependence on previously learned methods of division influences the recognition of the “original size.” Moreover, the analysis focused on the process of recognizing the “original size” characterized the importance of engaging in concrete operations such as folding and stacking when recognizing the “original size”, as they are not treated as the “original size” in arithmetic textbooks.
The purpose of this study is to develop a dinosaur skeleton teaching material that can be easily used in a regular classroom environment and to verify its educational evaluation. The teaching materials developed in this study have the following two features. The first is that AR display is available, enabling users to observe dinosaurs at actual size. Second, the name of each part of the pelvis, which is important when observing a dinosaur skeleton, is displayed. In order to verify the educational effects of the developed teaching materials, we conducted a practical class. In the class, students were asked to describe the characteristics of the pelvis of Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus, respectively. The students were also asked to describe what they found interesting. The textual analysis of these descriptions suggested the following two points. First, some students noticed the distinctive shape of the pubic bone by observing the 3DCG dinosaur skeletons even without prior explanation. The second point is that students enjoyed observing the actual size of the dinosaurs using the 3DCG dinosaur skeletons.
In this study, we use case studies to clarify what teachers in the field learned and did not learn in a qualitative research book club. The subjects were four people who had given presentations at a qualitative research book club. Focus group interviews were used to elicit their experiences in a qualitative research book club. What the teachers in the field said was considered a life story and analyzed. As a result, the subjects learned to relate qualitative research to the field of education. Specifically, they related qualitative research to their observations of learners. They also learned that qualitative research allows for subjective interpretation. The qualitative research book club became a place for the subjects to reconfirm and reconstruct their practice and previous ideas. On the other hand, the subjects did not acquire theoretical knowledge. The reason is that theoretical knowledge is difficult. They also did not acquire knowledge that they could not immediately apply. This case study is a useful resource for teachers in the field to learn qualitative research.
The purpose of this paper is to clarify the developmental process of Relational Thinking in third graders relating to addition through a series of lessons including the four operations of arithmetic for developing Relational Thinking. To this end, the author analyzed the results of questionnaires administered to third-grade elementary school students before and after four classes that promote Relational Thinking, focusing on “variation between numbers” and “directions of variation”. The results revealed that the ability to understand the “directions of variation” is important in the developmental process of Relational Thinking. They also suggested that a deeper understanding of equivalence may be related to the development of Relational Thinking.
In this study, we improved the “straw balance,” a teaching material that became easier to use and increased the degree of freedom in using weights for 6th grade elementary school students to learn about “regularity of levers”, and practiced it in class. The “straw balance” can be easily made, using materials that are readily available, and allows students to discover the “regularity of levers” through individual experiments. By experimenting and thinking with the “straw balance”, the students realized that the rules can be understood with the idea of ratios (proportionality and inverse proportion) when levers are balanced, and derive the equation for the balance of levers. By analyzing the discussions in class and the answers to the questionnaire survey conducted after class, we found that the “straw balance” was effective in helping children “derive equations for lever balance” and that students were able to solve problems. It was found that it contributed to an improvement in the willingness to try, and the effectiveness of the improved teaching materials was inferred.
There is a demand for promoting STEAM education, which is cross-curricular inquiry learning. Recently, a great deal of research on STEAM education has been conducted in Japan. However, to the best of our knowledge, there is little research on improving the competencies of teachers who implement STEAM education. In this study, we clarified how to design a learning design training program for STEAM education beginners for mid-career elementary school teachers, and then developed and implemented that training program, and measured its effectiveness. We used the Kirkpatrick model in designing the training program and measuring its effectiveness. A one-day training program of four 90-minute sessions was developed and implemented for four participants. We evaluated the training outcomes for one of the four participants and found two implications. (1) It is effective to design training programs using the Kirkpatrick model. (2) Participants can implement STEAM education by designing lessons using the Process Design Sheet and the STEAM Competencies Classification Model.
Astronomy is a science that requires students to develop the ability to move and link two viewpoints, the viewpoint from space, which is a bird’s eye view of the entire sky, and the viewpoint from the earth, which is observed from the ground. Thus teachers’ support for students to acquire spatial awareness involving these two perspectives skills is essential. However, for both students and teachers, as well as university students who wish to become teachers, difficulties have been pointed out in developing spatial cognition skills. In this study, we developed AR educational materials that support viewpoint movements which are based on the phases of Venus using a visual programming language on a web development environment, and conducted a survey on the improvement of understanding the phases of Venus for the university students. As a result, it was confirmed that the AR teaching materials developed on an open platform were effective in improving students’ comprehension. Furthermore, a questionnaire survey about the usability of the AR teaching materials received considerable positive feedback from both teachers’ and students’ perspectives. The study also suggested the need for improvement of problems in the AR materials through their use.
The aim of this study is to clarify the relationship between “Science for All” and Nature of Science (NOS) in the first version of the National Curriculum Science (NCS) in the United Kingdom, primarily England. This study analyzed the various political documents and literature on the National Curriculum. As a result, “Science” in “Science for All” in that period meant “Broad and Balanced Science”, which comprised three elements: content, process, and context. Based on “Broad and Balanced Science”, NOS was introduced in the first version of NCS. However, some science educators pointed out the difficulties of introducing NOS in the science curriculum. Finally, the authors argue the following: 1) it is necessary to consider the view of science based on the purpose of science education, in particular, the competencies that students will be expected to develop, 2) it is necessary to select the content of the NOS in terms of “Broad and Balanced Science”, 3) it is necessary to consider how the NOS will be specified and reflected in the curriculum documents.
Practical work is an essential element of science education worldwide. The role of practical work is to help students understand scientific knowledge. The present study examines the characteristics of practical work in England by analyzing official reports, the literature on practical work, and TFCS GCSE Physics, 3rd edition.
We clarified two key aspects: the importance of emphasizing procedural knowledge in practical work, and the relationship between acquiring scientific knowledge and practical work. Firstly, although students can acquire declarative knowledge from textbooks, they can acquire procedural knowledge only through practical work. This underscores the importance of practical work in enabling students to understand procedural knowledge through their experience. Secondly, procedural knowledge encompasses not only knowledge about skills but also knowledge about the purposes of scientific approaches, their application, and the interpretation and representation of results. These aspects of procedural knowledge are addressed in the explanation and discussion when students plan an experiment, analyze scientific data, and illustrate them with graphs. Consequently, the characteristics of practical work are to construct a didactic approach from the perspective of how learners effectively acquire scientific knowledge through practical work.
The Genetics Society of Japan pointed out that using terms about dominance and recessiveness in science education leads to the misconception that traits are superior or inferior, and proposed a change in terminology in 2017. In response to the proposal, current junior high school science textbooks changed the terms about dominance and recessiveness. To examine whether this terminological change suppressed the formation of misconceptions, we conducted a questionnaire survey of first-year high school students who studied genetics before the terminological change and junior high school students who studied genetics the year after the terminological change. The influence of the context of the questionnaire was also examined. The results suggested that the number of students with the misconception that dominant and recessive traits are “related to survival advantage/disadvantage” decreased, but the number of students with the misconception that “the dominant trait is the one with the highest frequency in the population.” may have increased. The misconception that dominance/recessiveness is related to frequency in the population was more common than the misconception that dominance/recessiveness is related to “survival advantage or disadvantage,” and it was inferred that the learning of mating results between Aa (○:△=3:1) influenced the formation of this misconception.